1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of displaying images with a touchpanel for a molded form-take out robot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A molded form-take out robot does, as shown in FIG. 11, comprise a first movement means 5, which is provided with a transverse beam 3 mounted and fixed at its root portion 1 directly onto a stationary platen 2A of an injection molding machine 2 and extending at a free end of the transverse beam 3 at a lateral side of the injection molding machine 2 as intersecting with a longitudinal axis C thereof, and also provided with, for example, a servo-motor 3A mounted on the transverse beam 3; a second movement means 7, which is provided with a drawing beam 6 (mounted on the transverse beam 3 with a root portion 4 being assembled on the same, extending along the longitudinal axis C of the injection molding machine 2, and movable, by actuation of the servo-motor 3A on the transverse beam 3, forwards and backwards in the extent from the root portion 1 to the free end of the same in the direction (indicated by the arrow X) intersecting the longitudinal axis C), and also provided with, for example, servo-motors 6A, 6B mounted on the drawing beam 6 (the servo-motors 6A, 6B are accommodated in a servo-motor accommodation box and thus not shown); a pair of grasping means 8A, 8B movable, by actuation of the servo-motors 6A, 6B, forwards and backwards in the extent from the root portion 4 to the free end of the drawing beam 6 in the direction (indicated by the arrow Y) of the longitudinal axis C of the injection molding machine 2; and a raise-lower means 9A, 9B raising and lowering the grasping means 8A, 8B. The molded form-take out robot is subjected, before the start of automatic continuous operation, to such teaching operation with an image-display device 10 using a touchpanel that an operator performs an inputting operation (described later) to cause a liquid crystal panel 10A of the image-display device 10 to show an image of the molded form-take out robot, so that the operator does, while watching the shown image of the molded form-take out robot, set and input proper or suitable values for the amounts of strokes of the first movement means 5, of the second movement means 7 and of the raise and lower means 9A and 9B.
The molded form-take out robot may be arranged with respect to the injection molding machine 2 in such separate patterns that the transverse beam 3 extends, as shown in FIG. 12, from a position on the injection molding machine 2 (where an injection part 2B mounted at the longitudinal rear side of the stationary platen 2A (see FIG. 11) is seen on the right-hand side) to a first lateral side of the machine 2 shown in FIG. 12, thereby causing the free end of the beam 3 to project outwards of the machine 2 (xe2x80x9cOperator-side extension pattern 12xe2x80x9d), or that the transverse beam 3 extends, as seen in FIG. 13, from the same position on the injection molding machine 2 (as above) to a second lateral side of the machine 2 shown in FIG. 13, with the free end of the beam 3 projecting outwards of the machine 2 oppositely to the first lateral side (xe2x80x9cOpposite-side extension pattern 13xe2x80x9d).
According to a conventional images-displaying method using a touchpanel, the liquid crystal panel 10A of the image-display device 10 shows a three-dimensional image 23 of the take-out robot in the Operator-side extension pattern in which the transverse beam 3 extends in the first lateral side (xe2x80x9cOperator sidexe2x80x9d) as seen in FIG. 7. Even with the conventional images-displaying method in which only the Operator-side robot image 23 can be shown on the liquid crystal panel 10A, in case that the molded form-take out robot is arranged in the Operator-side extension pattern 12 (FIG. 12) and the image-display device 10 is positioned at the Operator-side (i.e., at the first lateral side of the injection molding machine 2 with respect to the point thereon viewing the injection part 2B on the right-hand side), and when the operator does, while watching the three-dimensional image 23 of the Operator-side take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel 10A, perform the foregoing xe2x80x9cteachingxe2x80x9d operation, the take out robot (set in the Operator-side extension pattern 12) and the three-dimensional image 23 (of the Operator-side take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel 10A) correspond in orientation to each other, thereby enabling the operator O to be prevented from misunderstanding the orientation, and also enabling avoiding an erroneous or incorrect teaching operation.
However, in case that the molded form-take out robot is set in the Opposite-side extension pattern 13 as shown in FIG. 13 and the image-display device 10 using a touchpanel is still positioned at the Operator-side, when the operator O does, while watching the three-dimensional image 23 of the Operator-side take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel 10A, perform the foregoing teaching operation, the take out robot (set in the Opposite-side extension pattern 13) and the three-dimensional image 23 (of the Operator-side take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel 10A) are so different to each other in the orientation that the transverse beams 3 extend reversely to each other), whereby operators"" misunderstanding of the orientation is very likely to happen, resulting in an incorrect teaching operation.
Moreover, in case that the molded form-take out robot is set in the Opposite-side extension pattern 13 as shown in FIG. 14 and the touchpanel type image-display device 10 is also positioned at the Opposite-side (i.e., in the second lateral side of the injection molding machine 2 with respect to the point thereon viewing the injection part 2B on the right-hand side), when the operator O does, while watching the three dimensional image 23 of the xe2x80x9cOperator-sidexe2x80x9d take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel 10A, perform the foregoing teaching operation, the take out robot (set in the Opposite-side extension pattern 13) and the three-dimensional image 23 (of the xe2x80x9cOperator-sidexe2x80x9d take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel 10A) differ from each other in the orientation as that the drawing beams 6 extend reversely to each other, whereby operators"" misunderstanding the orientation is very likely to happen, resulting in an incorrect teaching operation.
In detail, the conventional images-displaying method using a touchpanel for the molded form-take out robot has no problems in the teaching operation by the operator watching the three-dimensional image of the Operator-side take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel of the touchpanel type image-display device positioned at the Operator-side with the molded form-take out robot being arranged in the operator-side extension pattern. However, the conventional method has a problem or fear of operators"" misunderstanding the orientation and a resultant incorrect teaching operation due to difference in the orientation between the take out robot set in the Opposite-side extension pattern and the three dimensional image of the xe2x80x9cOperator-sidexe2x80x9d take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel when the operator does, while watching the three dimensional image of the xe2x80x9cOperator-sidexe2x80x9d take out robot shown on the liquid crystal panel, perform the teaching operation in case that the molded form-take out robot is set in the Opposite-side extension pattern, and the touchpanel type image-display device is positioned at the Operator-side or at the Opposite-side.
The present invention has been designed under the above circumstances.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of displaying images with a touchpanel for a molded form-take out robot wherein three-dimensional images of robot corresponding to the setting patterns of the molded form-take out robot and the set positions of the touchpanel type image-display device are shown, so that operators can perform the teaching operation without misunderstanding the orientation of the robot""s images and the actual robot, thereby surely avoiding an incorrect teaching operation.
The object of the present invention has been achieved by a method of displaying images with a touchpanel for a molded form-take out robot comprising a first movement means mounted and fixed at a root portion directly to an injection molding machine and moving forwards and backwards at least one grasping means in the widthwise direction of the injection molding machine intersecting the longitudinal direction thereof, and a second movement means moving forwards and backwards said at least one grasping means in the longitudinal direction of the injection molding machine, wherein there is provided a controller comprising a central processing unit, ROM having software programs, RAM storing data, and an input/output device provided with a touchpanel type image-display device and a sheet switch shown on the image-display device, so that in any of such three situations as a first situation in which the molded form-take out robot is set in an Operator-side extension pattern with the image-display device being positioned at the Operator-side; a second situation in which the robot is set in an Opposite-side extension pattern with the image-display device at the Operator-side; and a third situation in which the robot is set in the Opposite-side extension pattern with the image-display device at the Opposite-side, inputting operation by an operator and controlling by the controller according to the operator""s inputting operation provide that: upon the start of operation, the image-display device shows a main image having a sheet switch for selecting a menu image; the menu image selecting sheet switch when set xe2x80x9cONxe2x80x9d causes the image-display device to show a menu image having a sheet switch for selecting a function-selection image; the sheet switch for selecting the function-selection image when set ON causes the image-display device to show a first function-selecting image having a sheet switch for selecting specific directions of taking molded forms; and the sheet switch for selecting specific directions of taking molded forms when set ON causes the image-display device to show a second function-selecting image having a first Operator-side sheet switch and a first Opposite-side sheet switch separately, wherein in said first situation the Operator-side sheet switch on the second function-selecting image when set ON causes the image-display device to show a three-dimensional image of a molded form-take out robot set in the Operator-side in which the first movement means extends at its free end to the Operator-side of the injection molding machine; in said second situation and at the time that the second function-selecting image is shown, the Opposite-side sheet switch on the second function-selecting image when set ON causes the image-display device to show a third function-selecting image having a second Operator-side sheet switch and a second Opposite-side sheet switch separately, so that the second Operator-side sheet switch on the third function-selecting image when set ON causes the image-display device to show a three-dimensional image of the molded form-take out robot set in the Opposite-side in which the first movement means extends at its free end to the Opposite-side of the injection molding machine; or in said third situation and at the time that the third function-selecting image is shown, the second Opposite-side sheet switch on the third function-selecting image when set ON causes the image-display device to show a three-dimensional image of the molded form-take out robot set in the Opposite-side in which the first movement means extends at its free end to the Opposite-side of the injection molding machine.
According to the method of displaying images with a touchpanel for molded form-take out robot, three-dimensional images of the molded form-take out robot precisely corresponding to the specific setting patterns of the robot and the setting positions of the touchpanel type image-display device can be shown or displayed. Thus, before start of the robot""s automatic continuous operation, when the teaching operation for setting and inputting proper values for strokes of the first and the second movement means is performed, operators can be prevented from misunderstanding the orientation of the robot, thereby surely avoiding an incorrect teaching operation.